Softline to enter Kazakhstan market

MOSCOW. April 22 (Interfax) - Softline PJSC (Softline Group of Companies) is entering the Kazakhstan market, and will form a hub in Almaty, the company said in a statement.

"The main goal of the Softline Group of Companies in the new region is to promote its own products, industry solutions and expertise, as well as solutions from Russian vendors. Meanwhile, the company will provide a full range of services, including implementation, maintenance, technical support and training," the statement said.

International expansion into the markets of friendly countries is one of the priority areas of development within the company's strategy, which involves the consistent opening of hubs, or Softline centers of expertise, in various countries, the company said.

The representative office in Kazakhstan will become the "starting point" for entering the entire Central Asian market, the statement said. "This is a fundamentally important step for starting the implementation of an expansion strategy, since this region is adjacent to the Russian Federation, and some Russian software and equipment manufacturers are already actively building interaction with local customers, distributors and integrators. At the same time, many customers from Central Asian companies are loyal and have expressed their readiness to consider Russian software and equipment as an alternative to Western solutions," the statement said.

IT distributor Axoft, which is part of the Group, has been operating in Kazakhstan for many years. Therefore, Softline's entry into this market will contribute to the consolidation of the group's resources and the expansion of the companies' capabilities, the statement said.

PJSC Softline is a provider of IT solutions. It is the parent consolidating company for Russian assets that were previously part of the global Softline Holding PLC group. The company's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange.

According to data published by Softline at the beginning of March 2024, Atalaya LLC owns 49.98% of the company's charter capital, companies controlled by Softline own 13.58%, management and members of the board of directors own 6.6%, institutional investors own 18.22%, and other shareholders own 11.62%. Softline reported in early April that one of the institutional investors, the private equity division of Sinara Bank, had increased its share in the company to 7.42% from 3.64%, and that the Softline Projects division had reduced its share to 9.64% from 13.41%.

Softline PJSC IFRS revenue totaled 91.5 billion rubles in 2023, with adjusted EBITDA of 4.5 billion rubles.